> Tampa, Florida-based WellCare Health Plans Inc. plans to take advantage of the merger fever among the nation's top insurers by possibly buying up assets that the merging insurers have to shed in order to gain regulatory approval, CEO Kenneth Burdick told the Tampa Business Journal.Article

> During Thursday night's debate for Republican presidential candidates, Ohio Gov. John Kasich defended his expansion of Medicaid, an unpopular stance among many in his party, Time reports. Article

> UnitedHealth Group is expanding an agreement with the Mayo Clinic that encourages patients to visit the Rochester, New York-based provider for certain treatments and procedures, the Rochester Post-Bulletin reports. Article

Health IT News

> IBM is taking its Watson technology one step further through a $1 billion acquisition of medical image management platform Merge Healthcare. Article

Health Finance News

> Publicly traded hospitals, along with other public companies, must publish the ratio of their CEOs' total compensation to the median annual employee pay under a new rule from the Securities and Exchange Commission. Article